emmett16

If Norby plays September in Norfolk he should accumulate ~50-60ABs. That puts him on pace to crack MLB next year around halfway through the season once he's covered the Elias 200. He will be pushing Westburg, Ortiz, & Urias and ready to go if any of those three slip or get injured.

From what I read they don't count towards the 40 man, it doesn't count towards service time, and they only get the MLB per diem (Hundred bucks give or take), so they won't get their pay raise bump until they are actually activated to the 26 (or 28) man roster.

Easy power. That's some serious pop.

No.

Maybe he comes up when Gunnar gets the call lol

I’m hoping he only gets 1 start in Bowie.

I imagine they'd like to see him have some sustained success before throwing him back out there. Toronto's lineup would be a test to say the least. Will be very interesting to see who gets that second Monday start. I think you might be right with Harvey.

Ugly game for Erie. The two WPs for the go ahead run and they also gave up a couple runs earlier in the game on 2 errors. Gotta love MiLB - so entertaining.

Zimmermann just posted 7.2 IP with 3H, 8 Ks, & 0 BBs for the Tides. Haven't heard his name much recently since the stellar start to the season.

One of Gunnar's least talked about tools is his speed. Two infield hits tonight. (another 3 hit night) He absolutely flies. I remember someone posting sprint speeds to 1b that were taken from the futures game and it had him top percentile of MLBers. Has two stolen bases tonight as well.

I agree.

FWIW the Tides announcer just said that Grayson Rodriguez is expected to finish the season in Norfolk. Said if there were no set backs on Thursday he should pitch his next game in Bowie and then finish the season with a couple starts in Norfolk. Not what people want to hear, but I'm sure it's what most imagined.

Double, Single, 2 SB & 2 rbi in his first AAA game.

I disagree, and I'd be surprised if he is 190. I'd guess 205-210. He is thick and most definitely has the game power. He has not hit many cheap HRs this year and a good portion of them have gone dead CF & LCF. He's hit 19 HR in 404 ABs so far this year.

Pinto goes tonight for Aberdeen. He hasn't gotten a ton of love this year on the board but he's quietly putting together a pretty solid season. Looking at his game log it seems he's thrown a few clunkers that have hurt his overall pitching line; however, he is still striking out batters a good clip @ 97ks in 82.2 IP after logging 84 in 66.2 last year. His walk rate is up significantly this year averaging a BB every 2.22 ip this year compared to 3.88 last year which has increased his whip quite a bit. I wonder if he has been working on new offerings leading to more walks. He's pitched pretty darn good since 6/3 excluding one terrible outing against Asheville on on 7/29 where he gave up 7ER in 2.2 IP. It looks like they have used him as a starter, piggyback guy, and a long reliever. He has kept his BBs down and people off base the last month. Hopefully he can continue that trend tonight against a pretty solid Hickory team.

That speaks volumes. Once you get to that level it's the make-up that starts to create separation from the other players. Would love to get some EVs from this guy, he's got strong hands and hits the ball hard.

I'll echo what the others have said. This power ranking thread is by far my favorite, and I look forward to all the updates, comments, and discussion. Thanks for all the hard work Tony.

I like the idea a lot. I have not been a big fan of his defense. Every single game I've gone to see him play there has been at least one ball hit to him that I thought he should have had. It's an eye test and just my two cents, but he has not impressed me in the outfield. He's not a butcher by any stretch of the imagination, he's just not going to make as many plays as our current guys or some of the plus defenders coming up. At the very least having some versatility moving forward cannot hurt.

He’s continued to keep his BBs down in AAA but is giving up over a hit per inning leading to a 1.4 whip. It’s only 43 innings so sss. Wonder if he’s working on a specific pitch? I see him as a future potential BP piece.

He looked twice over his shoulder at the throw, too. I thought he should have slid to the inside part of the bag as well. Will have to watch again, but isn’t that what the 3b coach should telling him?

Most guys that played ball growing up played “taps” , a game where you catch and toss ball in one motion with your glove only, before games and in between double headers. Kids now as young as 9 are learning advanced glove skills, mostly because they’ve seen big leaguers do it. Some times is quicker, but most of the time a good throw will do. That was a pretty spectacular play.

I think I'm going to go ahead and need to plan a trip down there this year as well. My kids asked me to go the last couple years, but we didn't pull the trigger. I've been one time to Ed Smith Stadium and had a wonderful time. This sure seems like the year to get maximum enjoyment and get a chance for the kids to meet the players before they all become big time stars.

I think Westburg is the one that gets traded and Ortiz is the 2b of the future. He is so slick with the glove and I think the FO values that a ton.

Pretty fantastic reward for a great start to his career. I didn't see that coming. Hope he can keep it up and turn some more heads.

He's in a bad place right now. Can tell he is pressing and is down on himself. I've said it before, but I would not be surprised if he has some nagging injury and is trying to overcompensate for it. He looks depleted. The swing is off and the bat speed isn't elite right now. The Astro's came at him with nothing but fastballs and beat him in almost every AB. I think he could benefit from a breather and a little rest before the final push. If he's batting 4th tomorrow, I might throw my computer out the window.